It is everything to do with how enterprises, marketing, media, communication & technology professionals have to reengineer themselves to the new emerging customer controlled economy.

May 17, 2011

India is gearing up for enhanced privacy laws that protects customers. This can be a landmark legislation that can have lasting impact on consumers, data protection, data sharing and use of personal data & information.

India has a not been privacy friendly state. Data sharing and exchange is done freely and hence it is not suprising to find personal information being freely available for a few cents. The proposed act or legislation seems to be all encompassing and can have a lasting impact. Take a look at some of the recommendations:

Currently, in India there is no legislation for protecting the privacy of individuals for all information that may be available with private entities. The legislation proposes to bring this to force.

Choice and consent of the indvidual before his/her personal information is collected

Information should be used only for the purpose it was collected

The individual should have access to his/her information at any time. He/she must be enabled to update or correct the information

Data controller would be transparent in his working as regards to the collection of personal data

Data controller is primarily responsible for its safety and use

The framework proposes:

All forms of identifiable data be protected against under the right to privacy.

It goes on to define what is personal data -..."to be able to identify a person, information need not necessarily be objective identification such as a person's name, but can be subjective information such as the opinion that a person is a "reliable" borrower or that a person is "expected to die of a terminal disease". It is also important to bring all personal information within this definition regardless ofthe format in which the information is stored."

It also extensively takes into consideration Indian context - Aadhar program that uses biometric information

Explicit consent or even approval from a regulatory authority may be required to be obtained to collect sensitive personal data.

Processing of data in an automated manner must be avoided when it affects the vital interests of the data subject.

The data once collected must be deleted after achieving the purpose for which it wascollected.

Privacy impact assessments to be conducted by independent authorities in the form oftransparent audits, for the protection of personal data.

Appropriate measures to protect the data of Indian citizens that are processed outside the country.

I believe this is going to have far reaching implications on how private entities hold data and process data. Also, information available on the web and information shared in social media will have to undergo scrutiny, as this personal data today is being used for commercial interests by many of the entities like google, facebook etc.

April 05, 2011

I was reading an interesting article by Umair Haque on the threat of open customer rebellion and how industrial age businesses are completely unprepared to change the ways they engage, treat and manage customers.He writes:

"Yesterday's massive, sprawling organizations could pacify "consumers" by buying them off with a discount or three, an overblown celebrity promising the moon, an entirely new "brand" designed as camouflage, or adding an extra blade or five, patty or three, or cylinder or four, and calling it "innovation." But that probably won't pacify people concerned not merely with what they "get," but with what, if anything, you're really contributing to society".

He goes to quote an interesting example:

"ING customers mobilised on Twitter and other social networks to protest at bonuses paid to bosses at the bank, one of the biggest in the country. The threat of direct action raised the spectre of a partial run on ING, terrifying the Dutch establishment. Fred Polhout, union organiser at the bank, says: "People were outraged. We heard about the bloated sums being paid again in the City and in New York; but suddenly the issue exploded on our own front door."

To me this is a lovely articulation of how unprepared many companies are. It made me think of some interesting analogy of how new information age thinking has to drive changes in industrial age-mindset companies:

In the industrial age, there were labor unions who acted as interest groups for community who produced goods. The customer had no power as they were fragmented across markets. The information age is creating customer unions where customers come together to rally against companies which do injustice to them, their enviroment, their community, unfair business relationship & services etc.

The labor unions could take the cause of only one company, theortically speaking. But, customer unions can have members across different products/brands across geographies and pose a larger threat.

The customer unions are self-engaging members who pose a potential threat to companies who undermine their power.

The customer unions can come together within a few hours and disrupt the brand reputation built over years by companies.

The customer unions have the power of internet, social media to engage & collaborate for this cause and will disengage once the cause is achieved.

If there were union leaders who drove the labor unions, here there are customer leaders who drive the opinions and issues. Companies need to identify them as they emerge from time to time for different reasons. But address them with agility.

Authencity and honesty will be the hallmark of successfully handling these customer unions and companies need to find new innovative methods of handling them openly & with transparency.

It's time companies and marketing departments realize this and find new ways of truly engaging with customers and their opinions.

March 13, 2011

There are many relevant points that are being made there but I really don't concur with all the blame & privacy issues that are being made in the article. I agree with the need for privacy of my data and of course, am against littering of my personal information. But, before we jump of the hook and start blaming the internet, industry leaders like google, facebook, twitter & other data marketing companies, we as consumers need to think about the following points:

Free email : There is nothing called a free lunch right? When you have a free email id which you have opted to take and use extensively, the companies need to find a business model to make money. Hence, they decided to build a business model around targeted advertising using the content and information that you access. The money they earn is being used to store our email data, provide uninterrupted access to your email, maintain the infrastructure etc. So, are we as consumers ready to pay for such services and also therefore define or give information access, rights to these companies on our terms?

Customer aggregation platforms have done it for decades, so what's the stress?: Television, radio station, newspapers did it for decades. The content that consumers watched on TV was subsidized by advertisers, broadcasters & electronic appliance companies to name a few - They paid to reach consumers and group of consumers like you. Every interruption of ' your valuable time' when you watch your favourite movies and soap operas is 'invasion of our privacy'. We chose to live with it, till new digital media like internet, mobile came-in. There were no laws to stop this invasion of privacy. The new media companies have now found a new method to hawk this information. Are we as consumers ready to pay subscription charges for such content and define access rights for this information on our terms?

Intermediation leads to social litter, disintermediation protects it: Any intermediator, we know, controls the information, prices and margins. This has happened time and again to us as consumers. The farmer faced this many decades ago as he could not get the right prices for his produce as the intermediators held them to ransom till disintermediators intervened and build an efficient supply chain. The banks are the age-old intermediators who have made pots of profits( and they make it still) by making money on our money! I see many social media platforms as intermediators - I never was able to connect with my friends who I had lost for ever till they came-in and made it easy. I see it as a huge a benefit. But, the information they hold is a goldmine and they have to find ways to monetize it to remain in business. Are we as consumers willing to pay for being members of these social platforms - even a couple of cents, if we really find them valuable and beneficial? Therefore, we can define access rights to these platforms on our information on our terms?

To conclude, what I see around me emerging is businesses like information vaults, personal information utlities (PIUs) firms like allow, Personal which talk the right language of consumer control but as a consumer I would like to know what are their terms of agreement with my preferred platforms - social media, TV, email service provider, communities on the Net am a member of, financial services provider, govt.( they trade social security nos. for a price too!) etc.. There needs to be terms of transparency, terms of portability, terms of usage,terms of enagement etc. before we as consumers jump-in and start embracing these platforms.

Else, this will be a case of one more of the many fads that we will fall into and we will undermine our data once again!

February 01, 2011

With mobile device in the hands of customers and quick adoption of smartphones, will it redefine the shopping habits of customers? I believe it will.

Mobile will increasingly act as research and shopping tool in their hands. Right now, I don't think it is widely used but with increasing app downloads & penetration, mobile internet adoption etc. this is certainly going to change shopping experiences - right from the way they search for products/brands/services and helping them choose & buy them too.

I believe it will be a " check, learn, ask & walk "(CLAW) shopping model on the mobile. It will be a mix of ' text & mortar' shopping. Mobile will overtake internet shopping in my opinion and adoption of mobile in certain categories will be significant.

Which categories need to get ready for this change? An nice study by emarketer can used as a benchmark by marketers to ensure they get ready for this shopping habit transition. In countries like India, China & Japan where the mobile penetration & growth is high - the impact will be felt the maximum.

This mobile shopping habit will have to encompass a mix of mobile apps, call-in advisors, chats, mobile alerts, location based services, mobile coupon downloads & redemption@ the store. Marketers will have to plan for an Integrated Mobile Shopping Experience (IMSE).

January 23, 2011

With Social Web taking shape over the last couple of years( over 500 million customers are socially networked) and showing signs of aggressive growth, customer profiles are increasingly getting accessible and I see more and more misuse of the same.

The recent one that I have experienced is in Linked-in where I get almost one request a day to join one forum or the other. The forum effectively is a method to network and conduct business without my permission. This is the starting instance of professional misuse of the network. I see this as an evolved spam in the garb networking with your peers in the industry. Similarly in the B2C arena, with google, facebook and soon to announce google's groupon like services, our data - both demographic and behavioral, is increasingly getting threatened to be misused. Take another services company Spokeo, they claim to be #1 reverse email company to find email addresses of customers and they are even the first ones to link your physical address with your email address! Days are not far-off when all your information will be out on the web!

In the traditional offline world, there were regulations that were brought-in like DNC lists for telecalling, Unsubscribe for email marketing etc. but these are archiac in the online social world. How do we ensure that content providers and service providers - who trade our data for advertising revenue be controlled? This are exactly the questions customers are being besieged with as there is a huge information overload which can lead to blindspots for marketing programs.

This is where new service providers seem to be mushrooming. For example - Personal.com is an interesting model where their proposition is:

Where customers set the rules to share their data, not companies!

It helps customers manage their identify across various services that they access to.

I believe the day is not far-off when customers will clamour for control of their data and seek not just commercial returns as it is widely touted but even advice, mentoring, support, customer care/service that they can get for the information they share will evolve.

December 12, 2010

The year 2010 is coming to an end and the 2011 marketing plans are being drawn out by CMOs.I have often wondered how are budgets allocated year after year by CMOs and marketing managers. In fact, most CMOs use archiac methods of planning marketing spends?

How much did I spend last year?

How much is the category or competitive brands spending during the same period?

Is there a better method to plan and allocate marketing spends? I am sure time has come for us to look at this kind of an analytical framework.

I came across an interesting article on how this can be done and I found it very interesting. Here are some of the higlights of the approach:

Step #1: The first question the author says is for the CMO to determine or test their spend leverage.

Step # 2: Most often, the author comments, marketing departments are not in alignment with the overal organizational strategy - on margin improvement, new geography penetration, production innovation or redesign, alternative channel testing etc.. It sounded very familiar to me and it is an important item which CMOs & marketing teams need to revalidate as they build their marketing spend plans.

Step #3: To determine which marketing spends to "defund" based on impact to business over the last year.

Step #4: Then basis the above 3 steps build a strategic prioritization plan.Strategic prioritization means CMOs need to decide which geographies, which segments, which innovations, which programs need more or less monies.

Step #5: The other interesting point made is that marketers should also look at risk issues around the environment as normally only GDP growth rates are looked at. The issues include terrosim issues, weather etc. which do pose a risk to marketing planning and spending.

I believe this is a great framework for a start to look at defining and planning marketing spends in a new year.

November 14, 2010

I often see a lot of digital marketing specialists treat social media data almost like traffic lights- a kind of sentiment monitor - Red, green and amber - here are the positive scores, negative scores etc. I wonder what marketing actionability does such visualization and presentation give to marketers. For the first few months, it may sound interesting to marketers, after that am 100% sure, they will get bored and start questioning the application and business impact of such data.

On the other hand, I see traditional direct marketers or database marketers or analytical professionals lost when it comes to social media. It is almost like finding their way in a maze and they often treat this as technology or a statistical problem that has no application in this medium. Also, they have very little clue about this medium. There is huge opportunity to apply both powerful direct marketing principles, database marketing and analytical techniques to this social media data. In fact, digital marketing specialists too need learn from these principles & techniques.

In fact here my view of how social media data is changing all of this.

Direct marketing was always restricted because of lack of customer address, behavioural data and information - social media data changes all of that.

No more physical address is important. An address on the web, posts on social media sites can help identify the customer and their current behaviour, attitudes and concerns. Treat all of this as 'information for action' rather than ' positive words or negative words of sentiment'. In fact sentiment on the web is dynamic. Action must be swift and dynamic to sentiments as they have a potential to make real-time impact.

Treat comments & posts data as response which can help build individual relationships and communities. This could have never been possible without social media.

Relationships in the past were based on only transactional data, today social media enables relationships based on individual behaviour - positive and negative emotions which can be deciphered. They need to managed as emotion-led customized campaigns with clear relationship metrics.

It was interesting see an article by Bob Maclnnis & Sari Tamilio who also urges us to think similarly about social media data.

Do you agree? Would love to see your comments and thoughts on the same.

November 07, 2010

The world of direct marketing is undergoing a sea change where there is a marriage of new digital marketing tools & methods to the old world direct marketing principles & vehicles.

In fact, almost a decade back, I had coined a term "Hybrid marketing" as the future of marketing - the convergence of online and offline techniques. I am glad to see it come of age. The internet, mobile & direct mail needs to converge and work together to drive better ROI for brand marketers.

Peppers& Rogers has interesting article on the same. There are some interesting points and applications that has been brought out in this article:

Now, thanks to an emerging technology called QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, direct mail can go immediately from print to interactive. A consumer with a QR Code reader on his smartphone can quickly scan this two-dimensional barcode on a direct mail piece and be immediately taken to online content without having to type in a Web address. In this way, QR Codes turn that printed direct mail piece into an interactive mobile response, transforming static messages into hyperlinks to just about anything online.

We know the positive statistics on the power of personalization, and now the Web itself can be personalized. A personalized URL (PURL) provides a Web address for an individual so that the content at the address can be unique for that visitor. When a direct mail recipient logs on to a PURL, information from the marketer's database can be used to tailor the Web experience for that person. Additionally, the website can track the respondent's activity and modify what is offered based on the consumer's actions. That interaction can also be very useful in making future print and online communications.

A QR code can link a smartphone user to a PURL, allowing a business to create unique QR codes linking to PURLs for everyone on its direct mail list. Once on a PURL microsite, a visitor may be invited to sign up for monthly newsletters, view an embedded video, or request a mailed fulfillment package. And the good news is that all of this online interaction can be measured for campaign ROI.

Email and SMS mobile text messaging can also be integrated into a multitouch marketing campaign. For example, a consumer receives a direct mail piece that contains a QR Code. She scans the code with her smartphone and is immediately linked to a personalized website. Then, shortly after that, she receives an email or SMS text response thanking her for visiting the site. Based on what information she chose to share, she may receive an additional direct mail piece, text, or social media notification as a follow up. Thanks to postal delivery alerts, it's even possible to spark curiosity and anticipation in a consumer by notifying them via email or mobile that a personalized package will soon arrive in the mail.

The fact really is that traditional direct marketers have to adopt these techniques by using them effectively in their marketing campaigns. The digital marketers have to get adept in using the direct marketing principles by seamlessly converging these new tools & techniques to the offline marketing techniques.

Only when this is done,will brand marketers see the benefits of " true" response, engagement and conversions.The reality of customer engagement, growing customer relationships and increased customer conversions will become visible.

I don't see too many direct marketers and digital marketers having the skills and competency in using these "ambidextourous" techniques of both the worlds. The faster they learn & adopt them, the faster they will be able to demonstrate the ROI in their marketing campaigns.

October 31, 2010

I was reading an interesting article by Doc Searls on the data bubble where he makes interesting observations on how customers leave a lot of data and information across digital platforms and various devices that they carry, which is being exploited by business today and the need for customers to control the data rather than business controlling the data. Quoting him:

Their understanding of our identity is not the same as our understanding of our identity. What they have are a bunch of derived assumptions that may or may not be correct; and even if they are, they are not ours.

I completely agree with him. For example, in many of the social network sites that I am member of, I may not necessarily want the data that I have left behind to be available to social media companies like facebook and twitter or make them available to crawlers or made public to everybody who I know in that list without my permission. Also, the invasion of privacy of information by Location based service providers like foursquare, Loopt etc. is quite dramatic too. For example, I had commented on an airline service that I was unhappy about and some service issues I had faced and immediately I was besieged with a lot of travel offers thro' Google adsense, emails from other businesses etc. Not to mention, my mobile phone data(GPRS) is also open and I end getting junk messages that I would like to get rid of. My page was covered with ads and I didn't want them anyway.

In fact, I believe, there is a crying need to build a personal data vault service - a kind of a brokerage house that owns this information and drives memberships & permissions with individual customers. The customer controls the information that she/he gives permission to part with to the service provider. May be there is a revenue share that certain customers may expect in return of use of that information.

Kaliya makes some interesting points on how to build a personal data ecosystem and what does it take to build one. She has a a vision document where she outlines core aspects of the emerging interoperable, open standards based ecosystem of personal data services – rooted in the core functionality of a Personal Data Store – the vault/locker/services/broker where all an individuals data is collected and stored and managed.

Information & relationships between people must be protected and to make information work harder & effectively, there is a need to give this control to the customer.

October 23, 2010

In the recent past, i had written saying that we will move in the near future from "search" engines to "do" engines. Looks like Eric Schimdt recently has been talking about serendipity engines as the future.

As you look into the future, the distinction between “search” and “discovery” gets muddy. While it sounds like science fiction to suggest that technology can help search for things you don’t even yet know you want, the opportunities to improve human discovery are very real. Combining a person’s context—where they are, who they’re with—with their past opinions and actions and the opinions and actions of others can create tremendous value and relevance.

Imagine you’re someone who has positively rated Mexican restaurants in the past. As you drive through town around lunchtime, your device alerts you to a well-rated Mexican restaurant that is nearby and likely to suit your tastes. This information may not be welcome at 8 a.m. or 2 p.m., nor would it be welcome to someone who hasn’t expressed an affinity for Mexican food. It is the combination of social media, individual preferences and context that creates the opportunity for proactive discovery rather than reactive search.

This isn’t about opening your Yelp application on your smartphone and seeing the same search results as everyone else; it’s about having hardware and software that intuits and presents the things you really care about. There are already examples of simple "Serendipity Engines" available, such as Netflix's rating system—the more movies you rate, the better the recommendations you'll receive.

What is exciting about this future is the continued progress toward empowering consumers.

How will this evolve over the next few years will be interesting to track. Service & solution providers will need to build and integrate their development around these trends.